


Best Friend

by CerendaRoth



Series: Nowen One-shots [1]
Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerendaRoth/pseuds/CerendaRoth
Summary: Over the course of Total Drama World Tour, Noah and Owen have managed to form a close friendship despite their differences in personality.  As the show progresses, however, Noah finds that this feelings for Owen are no longer strictly platonic.  This is difficult to come to terms with, especially when Owen already has a girlfriend.
Relationships: Noah/Owen (Total Drama)
Series: Nowen One-shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136084
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially a rewrite of the Total Drama World episode “Jamaica Me Sweat.” While watching the episode, I couldn’t help but notice how much Noah wanted Owen to break up with Izzy. Since I’ve recently gotten back into the Total Drama fandom and I have happened to notice that there is unfortunately very little Nowen content, I decided to add my own take to the episode and explore how Noah may have formed a small crush on Owen.

It had only been a few hours since Team Chris had arrived in first class after their collective win with Team Victory in the Newfoundland challenge, and Noah’s mood had already increased considerably. With a ready-made buffet that was replaced every few hours, personal massages that were conducted by professional massage therapists, and even basic amenities like soft recliners, it was nice to enjoy a few moments of actual rest in the competition. Moreover, what was even more satisfying was the look on Heather’s face after he shot her a smug smirk on his way to the winner’s quarters. It was about time that they had won one of these challenges. Team Amazon had practically dominated first class while their team had to endure leaky ceilings and dangerous flying conditions for the past few weeks.

Currently, Noah was reclining back in one of the class’s recliners, a noticeable improvement from the steel benches in economy. Everyone had just received a cucumber facial massage from the plane’s professional massage team as a way to celebrate their win and Noah was enjoying the time they had to relax in silence.

Next to him, he could hear Owen slurp and eat the cucumbers that were a part of his facial.

Noah sighed internally. Well, the quiet was nice while it lasted.

He waved his hand. How many weeks on this plane with Owen and he still didn’t think that he’d be able to ever deal with Owen’s breath. “Ugh, it’s a facial, not a fruit plate.”

Owen laughed, clearly finding Noah’s reaction amusing. “Noah, don’t you see? It’s both!”

Noah rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. Honestly, that was probably one of the most unexpected developments of this season. Although Noah had been on the same team with Owen on Island, he had been eliminated fairly early on while Owen had successfully made it to the finale, effectively making it difficult for them to have many interactions. That didn’t even account for the fact that they were pretty much opposites in personality. Noah was jaded and preferred to keep to himself while Owen was loud and cheerful to everyone that he met. Despite the odds though, they had managed to form a strong friendship over the course of World Tour. They actually complemented each other rather well. Owen enjoyed Noah’s deadpan sense of humor while Noah found himself lowering his walls around Owen’s friendly and agreeable nature.

However, as much as Noah did truly value his friendship with Owen, there was another aspect of their relationship that Noah did not like to admit, even to himself. Over time, he had found that his feelings for Owen were no longer...strictly platonic.  
It had happened gradually. Small things, like feeling lighter when they were hanging out started creeping up. At first he had shrugged off, assuming that he was being sentimental over having made a genuine friend, which was something that he admittedly struggled with. So he ignored it and tried to shift his attention to the competition.

He soon found that this was easier said than done though, especially when Izzy became a part of the equation.

Speaking of which, Noah looked up to see that Izzy was fiddling with the plane’s recliners. Somehow, she had managed to fold the top of the recliner completely over herself. She laughed wildly as she faced Owen.

“Owen! These chairs are spring loaded. Watch this! Whoo!”

Izzy suddenly propelled the recliner back, causing her foot to slam into Owen’s crotch. Noah cringed.

Owen groaned as he fell forward. “Ow! Why is it always the kiwis!?”

“You okay big guy?” Noah asked.

Owen grit his teeth. “Yeah, I think I’ll be fine….” He let out a deep breath before pain flashed over his face. “Actually, no, this is a pretty bad one. I’m going to get an ice pack from the interns.”

Izzy jumped up from her seat. “Ooh, Izzy will come too!”

After they left, Noah let out a large sigh as he leaned back into his seat.

He really didn’t have any qualms with Izzy. Weirdly enough, she was one of the few contestants that he actually hung out with along with Eva when they were at the Playa together. Still, he couldn’t pretend that he didn’t feel a pain in his chest whenever Izzy was being affectionate with Owen.

He would just have to deal with it though. Seeing as how Owen had been able to tolerate Izzy’s quirks for this long, he doubted that their relationship was going to end anytime soon.

That was why when Owen returned with an ice pack, Owen’s next comment genuinely surprised him.

“I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to break up with Izzy once and for all.”

Noah hated the fact that immediately after Owen’s confession, he felt a surge of hope rise through his chest.

“Finally,” Noah said before he could think better of it.

“I still like her, but she’s so-”

“Nutty? As a ten ton bag of pecans smothered in peanut butter encased in a cashew the size of China?”

Slowly, he felt his cheeks begin to darken. Owen could be oblivious at times, but there was no way that even he could mistaken the aggressive and jealous tone in his voice.

Thankfully, Owen didn’t seem to notice that anything was off since his attention had shifted to Izzy.

Hanging upside down from her recliner, Izzy was gnawing on a flower point. Noah raised a brow. Where had she even gotten that from?

“Tastes like shoe polish. Haha!”

Owen’s earlier anger with Izzy seemed to fade as he watched the scene with endearment. “Aw, she’s happy.”

Ultimately, Noah was grateful for the diversion. He needed time to deal with...whatever that had just been. Even if Owen was breaking up with Izzy, he shouldn’t let his emotions get the best of him. Heck, he wasn’t even sure if Owen was interested in guys or not.

But then again, a small part of his brain whispered, Owen had reacted suspiciously around Justin, so maybe…

No, he was putting a firm stop to that before it could grow any further. Honestly, this entire situation was off-putting. Noah valued the fact that he was usually a calm and sensible person. It was unnerving to see how much control Owen had over him, even if Owen himself was unaware of it.

“Little buddy?”

At the sound of Owen’s voice, Noah nearly jumped out of his seat. Thankfully, he was quickly able to mask his surprise with his usual poker face.

“What?” He asked, feigning annoyance.

Owen seemed somewhat hesitant. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that, I’ve never seen you be so quiet before. Is everything okay?”

So he had noticed.

Noah bit his lip as he tried to come up with a lie. Should he try to brush it off? Before he could think it through much further though, the plane’s intercom suddenly turned on.

“Attention, passengers,” Chris began. “Ahhhh!”

With a shuddering groan, the plane suddenly began to accelerate downwards at a violent pace.

Oh no. Noah turned to face Owen and immediately recognized the fear and panic in his friend’s eyes. Although Owen had gotten better at confronting his aerophobia, in instances where the plane malfunctioned, he was completely consumed by his fear.

Owen immediately leapt from his seat, staggering forward before he fell on his knees.

“We’re all going to die!”

The plane suddenly lurched to the side, sending Owen rolling to the other side of the plane. Owen looked up to see that Izzy was standing at the plane’s side door, ready with a parachute.

“Izzy,” he panted. “We need to talk.”

Izzy grinned as she opened the door. “Ooh. You’ll have to catch me first! Last one’s a rotten egg!”

With a salute, Izzy promptly jumped out of the plane. Despite Owen’s attempts to hold onto the carpet, he soon followed after her as he was sucked out of the plane.

Noah tightened his grip on his chair, hanging on for dear life as the open door also threatened to send him falling out of the plane. It was difficult to process what was happening-everyone was screaming while Chris yelled at Chef over the intercom. Eventually, with a final shuddering groan, the plane crashed into the ground. A looming silence followed.

* * *

When they landed, Chris did not give much time to regain their bearings. They were quickly ushered to the cargo hold and down an inflatable slide to evacuate the plane, Chris muttering something about “potential lawsuits” under his breath. Surprisingly, despite the circumstances, the plane had somehow managed to come out of the incident mostly unscathed. Apparently, the issue was that they had run out of gas before they could land at the next travel location and they were forced to make an emergency landing.

Well, wherever they were, it was definitely sunny. Noah put his hand against his eyes to block out the blinding light as he surveyed the area. Judging from the sand, palm trees, and sparkling blue water around them, it was clear that they had accidentally arrived at some kind of tropical location.

Chris shook his head. “Two airports on an island the size of a post-it stamp and he misses both. But somehow, it’s my fault.”

Chef scoffed. “You blew all our money for the season on Chris World.”

_Chris World?_ Just how big was Chris’s ego?

Before Chris and Chef could continue arguing, Courtney gasped in alarm. “Chris, Owen and Izzy need help!”

Noah’s eyes widened when he saw what Courtney was referring to. Owen and Izzy were pinned underneath the plane, with only their feet visible like some crude reenactment of the Wizard of Oz. They must have gotten hit by the plane when they had jumped out of the side door.

He felt his stomach sink. They were going to be fine...right?

Chris didn’t seem too concerned by the situation, however. “Izzy and Owen are gonna be fine. Thanks to travel insurance, help is on the way…in around 6 to 38 hours!”

Gwen threw up her arms. “What about the rest of us?”

“Well,” Chris started, counting with his fingers. “We’re out of gas, plane’s busted, and we’re broke. But the show must go on. We can’t waste any of this footage! Think of the hits we’ll get on ClipTube!”

Sure, having the plane crash on your reality tv show will garner a reaction, but was Chris really that deluded into thinking that it would be a positive one?

Tyler looked around in confusion. “Where are we?”

“Jamaica, mon. We were supposed to land in Ochoa Rios, but since somebody forgot how to glide,” Chris gave Chef a pointed glare, “we’ll have to do the challenges here instead. And fast. Before whoever owns this dump shows up and asks for a location fee.”

Noah took a deep breath, trying to control his anger at the situation. “Didn’t you guys budget for the whole season?”

“Some things cost more than expected,” Chris argued. “Airplane-ready hot tubs don’t grow on trees, you know.”

“You must have an emergency fund!” Heather protested.

“Spent it on our last fuel-up,” Chris said, not missing a beat.

Ah yes, the flight where they almost crashed into the ocean.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Which went so well.”

“Geez, all you kids ever do is complain and nag nag nag,” Chris said. “Grab your board shorts and meet me at the waterfall. We have to get this challenge underway before the cops show up.”

* * *

True to Chris’s word, he had somehow managed to quickly pull together a challenge despite the short notice. Noah would have almost admired his commitment if Chris still didn’t find ways to make the challenge as life-threatening as possible. He supposed in Chris’s perspective, it just wouldn’t be a Total Drama challenge if it didn’t have electric eels and man-eating sharks, would it?

Thankfully, the first part of the challenge was fairly uneventful, mostly due to the fact that Tyler agreed to do most of the dives so that Noah didn’t have to directly participate. This was of course, excluding one incident where Chris had pushed Noah off the cliff for insulting his age, but hey, Noah had to find some way to get his mind off the earlier accident, and slipping into his usual sarcastic self was his best defense to get a hold of his emotions.

Speaking of which, there was still no word on either Izzy or Owen’s condition and they were already approaching the second phase of the challenge. Noah sighed. He watched distantly as Tyler and Alejandro volunteered for their team as he was still lost in his thoughts.

He knew that Chris tried to cut corners as much as possible when it came to spending, but he hoped that Izzy and Owen were at least receiving some sort of professional treatment.

Suddenly, Noah saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was hard to make out initially, but over time, he was able to tell that it was Owen running towards them.

“Hey, wait up! Doc says it’s okay for me to compete!”

Chris shouted into his megaphone. “Owen’s back!”

Owen eagerly ran up to the group, but in his excitement he accidentally tripped and slid onto the ground.

Noah gave him a relieved smile as Owen stood up. “Glad to see that you’re doing better big guy.”

Owen nearly blinded him with a grin of his own. “Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better now. The medical staff said that they were impressed with how fast I recovered. Once they gave me the go-ahead, I came here as fast as I could.” Owen frowned for a brief second. “Wait, what are we doing right now?”

“Chris calls it the bobsled of death challenge,” Noah said with air quotes. “Which, I suppose is fitting considering the fact that the pool is completely empty so we’ll be landing into solid concrete after coming down from the obstacle course. You know, you probably could have gotten out of it if you just stayed in the infirmary for a few more minutes, right?”

Owen shook his head. “Nah, I like doing most of the challenges. It makes everything more exciting. Besides, I wanted to let you know that I was doing okay.”

Noah averted his gaze briefly out of embarrassment. “Well, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried about you both.” Noah’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Wait, where is Izzy? Shouldn’t she also be back right about now?”

At this, Owen seemed to falter. He took a deep breath. “Izzy’s...not in the competition anymore. Actually, it’s kind of hard to explain, but when we got hit by the plane, Doc said that it changed something with her brain. She’s like a completely different person now. She kept doing all of these calculations on the wall and talking about something related to science, but I couldn’t make any sense of it. Anyway, the army must have seen what happened because they suddenly showed up and asked her to come with them.”

Noah blinked. That...was a lot to take in. He always suspected that Izzy was more intelligent then she let on, but who could have expected that outcome?

“So, a military guy took Izzy away?” Noah asked, mostly just to confirm that he heard Owen correctly.

Owen looked down. “Yeah. Maybe it’s cause she’s so smart now. She said she figured out time travel.”

Well, that was said rather casually.

Noah watched Owen carefully. He suspected that there was more to the situation than Owen was letting on, but before he could open his mouth, Chris shouted obnoxiously into his megaphone.

“And Alejandro and Tyler come in with a score of 58.49 seconds. Team Amazon still leads by a healthy margin though.”

Noah sighed. He looked up at the giant contraption that Chris and Chef pulled together. He was really dreading going down that thing. “Well, it looks like we’re this thing’s next victims. We should probably get ready to go up to the platform.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…” Owen said distantly. He shook his head, like he was trying to clear his thoughts before forcing a grin. “Let’s do this thing! Woo!”

Owen quickly ran up to the platform and Noah, left without much choice, followed after him. Noah narrowed his eyes. Something was clearly off. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment. He would have to ask Owen about it once they finished the challenge.

Noah stared down the ramp and swallowed. That was, of course, assuming that he wouldn’t be the next one sent to the infirmary.

* * *

In the end, they managed to narrowly secure a win when DJ was unable to complete the challenge and was subsequently eliminated. However, while winning a challenge was usually a cause for celebration, things were mostly at a standstill for the moment. Chris immediately went to call the producers once the challenge ended, more than likely to beg for extra funds so that the show could continue. So, while they were able to stay in the plane and first class because of their win, it was uncertain as to when they would actually be flying again.

Noah frowned as he surveyed first class. He turned to the only other occupants in the room. “Has anyone seen Owen lately?”

“I think he said something about going to the confessional,” Tyler responded.

“Yeah, which must have been half an hour ago,” Noah said, standing up. He was starting to get restless with sitting around and waiting for Owen to show up, especially since he had seemed so dejected earlier. “He couldn’t have gone that far, I mean it’s not like the plane is that big.”

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s probably pretty upset about what happened, you know? That was a pretty harsh break-up.”

“Perhaps I can lend you my assistance?” Alejandro said. “We can try to look for him together.”

While Alejandro’s offer appeared to be genuine, Noah knew that he was only saying it as a formality. It was pretty obvious that Alejandro had never liked Owen. Actually, Noah had his own suspicions about how Alejandro played a large role in most of Team Victory’s eliminations, but that was for another time.

“It’s fine,” Noah replied. “I can look for himself. It shouldn’t take long to find him anyway.”

A brief sign of relief crossed over Alejandro’s face, but he managed to hide it fairly quickly with a small smile. “Of course. Well, hopefully you will be able to find him soon.”

Noah gave them both a brief wave before walking out of first class to head to economy. His search soon turned out to be fairly fruitless, however. No one in Team Amazon had seen Owen either, although Gwen did seem to express her concern about how Owen was doing. The cargo hold was also noticeably empty. The only other place on the plane was Chris’s cabin and since Noah seriously doubted that Owen had somehow managed to sneak in there, it seemed like Owen had left the plane entirely.

As Noah left the plane and looked across the beach, he finally spotted Owen sitting at the edge of the beach near the ocean.

“How long have you been sitting here?” Noah asked as he approached Owen.

Owen jumped slightly at the sound of Noah’s voice, but relaxed when he saw who it was. “Oh, has it been that long already? Sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I must have gotten side-tracked.”

Noah shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. It’s not like we’re going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. To Owen’s surprise, he joined his side and sat next to him. For a few seconds, they stared out at the sunset reflecting off the ocean before Noah spoke up again. “Your break-up with Izzy is still bothering you, isn’t it?”

“Ah, yeah, a little. It just happened so fast that I’m still having a hard time processing everything.”

Noah studied Owen’s expression. As soon as Owen had stepped on the plane, he had been like a completely different person. Sure, Owen could be fairly annoying at times, especially with the excessive farting and gross-out humor, but seeing someone that was always so optimistic suddenly turn so downtrodden was disconcerting.

This was...partly his fault, wasn’t it? Owen had stated that his decision to break up with Izzy was of his own volition, but it wasn’t like Noah hadn’t made arguably harsh comments about Izzy beforehand.

“Look, Owen…I’m sorry if I made it seem like your relationship with Izzy wasn’t serious. It’s obvious that you cared for her a lot and I shouldn’t have made all of those comments earlier.”

There was a small moment of silence that made Noah feel uneasy, but to his surprise, Owen suddenly pulled him into a hug.

“Ah, little buddy, don’t blame yourself!”

“Owen...can’t...breathe!” Noah sputtered.

Owen released Noah quickly. Perhaps too quickly, since Noah was sent falling backwards into the ground. Owen rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about that, I guess I get too excited sometimes, huh?”

Noah groaned as he wiped his sweater vest to brush off the sand. “You don’t say...”

After a brief moment, Owen continued to speak in a soft voice. “I don’t really know how I feel about Izzy right now. I mean, she isn’t even the same person anymore.” Owen sighed as he turned his attention to the sunset. “I just wish that we could have ended everything on better terms.”

“It isn’t like you’ll never be able to see her again,” Noah pointed out. “Besides, this is Izzy we’re talking about here. Regardless of what happened, I’m sure that she’ll eventually bounce back to her normal self at some point. Actually, I’d be surprised if the army doesn’t beg us to take her back.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Owen said with a genuine smile. It definitely looked like a large weight was lifted off his shoulders. “Thanks Noah.”

Noah flushed, which made Owen chuckle. In retaliation, Noah lightly punched Owen’s arm, although he was grinning. “Dude, shut up.”

Suddenly, Owen straightened. His eyes seemed to flash with determination. “Alright...now you need to tell me what’s been on your mind.”

The humor drained from Noah’s face. He grabbed his arm, a habit he unconsciously did when he was nervous. “Do we really have to do this right now?”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like you have to,” Owen conceded. “But it would probably make you feel better. You seem kind of distant lately, like you’re always thinking about something.”

Unable to face Owen, Noah focused his gaze on the waves crashing by them. Honestly, even if he was ready to talk about it, there was no way that he could do it now. Regardless of the orange and pink sunset glowing softly in the background, it was still way too close to Owen’s breakup with Izzy. He couldn’t do that to either of them.

“I’m not ready to talk about it,” Noah admitted. “I promise that I’ll tell you about it later, but...just not right now.”

“Okay,” Owen agreed easily. He put his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “I’ll be there to listen though when you ever feel like you want to tell someone about it.”

Noah let out a breath he didn’t realize that he was holding. “Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem,” Owen said brightly. He frowned as he looked at the sunset. “Ah, it’s getting late, isn’t it? We should probably start heading back soon.”

Noah stood up, giving the sunset one last glance. He felt his resolve grow. While he still didn’t know how he would eventually approach telling Owen, for now, he would strive to enjoy the small moments that he had with his friend.

He gave Owen a small smirk. “I’m assuming that we’re going to the first class’s buffet?”

Owen gripped his stomach. “Can you believe it? I was so distracted by everything that I almost forgot to eat supper!”

Noah shook his head, but waved his friend over to the plane. “Come on. I’m sure there’s something left that you can eat.”


End file.
